The Rice Hat
by Hammy Uchiha
Summary: Sasuke is running away from Orochimaru, runs into Sakura and ends up stumbling into one sticky situation.


**YES! At last, I'm getting worse and worse, but I finally got up a new fanfic for your enjoyment. It just seems I don't have any time anymore. Plus I'm working on a 50,000 word novel for NaNoWriMo. Ahah..ah.ha.. well anyways that isn't coming along so great, I've only got 400 words. I digress...**

**Note: I don't own Naruto or Obito would never have died.**

**Please read and review before Sai's abs are forced to call you, they now have a phone book and can now see where you live, beware! **

**Without further rambling, let the story commence! **

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**The Rice Hat**

By Hammy Uchiha

The rice hat sat on his head shading his eyes and fending off the sprinkling rain. A chill wind swept by as he walked and he was aware he was being followed. None the less, he walked on at a steady pace, his head bowed. One hand rested near the hilt of his sword, and the other held his hat down, over his dark eyes.

The rain was icy stabbing when he heard the footstep a little too loudly behind him and he turned, knuckles whitening in his grip on his sword. She was looking at him, standing maybe twenty paces away. Her green eyes were a mix of emotions. That took the Uchiha off guard, her piercing gaze and in his distraction he was caught off guard by the shinobi in grey and purple, the crowd of sound nin following him. In a mass they charged him, kunai out, their voices a roar. Sakura watched as the man she had been following was rushed forward and smashed into a large tree. She heard the smashing and clinking of kunai as the crowd of sound ninja crushed Sasuke against the tree.

Sakura drew her own kunai and stalked forward to the crowd.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded and before they could answer, she was kicking and slashing at all those in her way. She tried to break through the pressing crowd. She heard an angry yell from Sasuke and thinking she was close, she blindly slashed forward. At that instant the mass of ninja parted, and Sakura saw Sasuke barreling forward straight for her, his hand ignited with the Chidori.

"**_STOP!"_** screamed Sasuke's mind, but even as he tried to slow his pounding feet, he was headed straight for her. The Chidori was powering down as he crashed into her, his still glowing hand hitting her straight on in the stomach. With a gasp of horror and pain, the pink haired kunoichi staggered clutching her stomach, as the Uchiha pulled back his bloodied hand. Terror played in his eyes as he watched her stumble, and cough, blood dripping down her lip.

"Teme," she gasped as she fell to the mud before his sandaled feet. The sound nin were laughing and their ring around Sasuke grew closer. The Uchiha had frozen up, looking on in horror at what he had done. Several of the sound nin drew kunai, prepared to stab him. In a single instant Sasuke switched sides again, from the hunted to the hunter. Out slid his sword, igniting blue and then he vanished. In seconds it was over and the dead bodies of the sound ninja were slumped in the grass. Sasuke wiped off his blade, panting. He had overestimated his need for chakra and had wasted an more than he should have. The sword clicked back in its sheath as he came to Sakura.

She was curled up on the ground, clutching her stomach and breathing in heavy gasps. Sasuke was no healer nin, and even being the genius he was, this situation was beyond him. _This is why I like doing things alone…_ The Uchiha closed his eyes and focused in, there had to be something he could do for her. His eyes snapped open and he ignited his Sharingan, he had seen Kabuto perform a healing once… Sasuke pried Sakura's hands away from the wound and she cried out and fought back.

"Don't …touch me…you pervert!" she choked, until finally Sasuke pinned her arms away from the wound and took a close look at it. The color drained from his face and he wondered if he could actually do anything to help her. Then he clenched his teeth. _I can do this…_ He unzipped her jacket and pulled the torn fishnet shirt away from the wound as Sakura cried out again calling him a pervert and a couple other nasty names. Sasuke let go of her hands and used his Sharingan to do the hand signs he had seen Kabuto make and then, barely trusting himself, he pushed the chakra into the wound.

"Dammit, Sasuke," she gasped in pain. The Uchiha grimaced as he felt all of his chakra escape through his hands and into the wound. Nothing happened to the wound. As the world blurred for an instant Sasuke wondered if he had done it wrong. He didn't have much chakra left to give after the mass wipe out of the sound ninja and now… The world tipped crazily and Sasuke's better judgment told him to stop the jutsu. His heart told him, if he stopped now, she would die. He held in there, until chakra burns began to form on his trembling hands and they crept up his arms and down his torso. Finally he had to let go, before he passed out… or puked, one of the two.

Breathing heavily the Uchiha reached for some bandages to wrap up the beginning to heal wound. Sakura was out cold as he finished and zipped up her jacket. His next thought involved Orochimaru stealing his body, which was the reason he had been walking in the first place. Sweat trickled down his pale face as he realized they were in a very bad place.

He wasn't worried so much about himself as he was about Sakura. The Uchiha knew what he had to do, even though he wasn't so sure he could trust his legs to carry his weight and Sakura's. Gritting his teeth he slid his arms under the pink haired kunoichi and then staggered to his feet. The world shifted again and blurred before his dark eyes. Sasuke swayed uneasily, backing himself up against a tree for support and then as his vision cleared he leapt painfully up into the tree and took up, hopping from branch to branch. A single word pounded in his brain causing him to move faster, to put everything he had left into this escape. _Orochimaru. Orochimaru. Orochimaru._

Several times the normally graceful Uchiha nearly slipped or missed a branch. He didn't know how long he ran, his legs so numb and his breaths so ragged that he couldn't think straight. Until, after what seemed to be forever, he leapt down to the ground, landing roughly with a shudder. He barely made it to the deep spot between the giant roots of the trees. Weakly he laid Sakura down, before another dizzy spell hit him and he swayed uneasily before collapsing in the damp leaves, out cold.

When he came to, he was sure he had been out for days, weeks maybe, but the Uchiha woke up in the same minute of the same day that he had fallen to the leaves. His arms and legs and whole body were still throbbing from the chakra burns and his head spinning. Sasuke went to move and discovered he was still drained of strength. Sakura was still slumped against the tree, and Orochimaru had not found them… not yet. Sasuke pushed himself to his knees and crawled with difficulty to Sakura. She was still breathing, still alive. The Uchiha breathed a sigh of relief before kicking off his shoes and then his tattered pants to reveal his shorts. He discarded the heavy belt and with a kunai cut off the extra amount on the ends of his sleeves. The belt, the pants, the shirt all described him to be one of Orochimaru's pawns. No more. He had to rest then, after burying his incriminating clothing beneath a pile of leaves. The forest was silent, the sky dreary, Sasuke waited, his eyes wary his ears open to the sound of those who would no doubt come after them.

The day was damp and Sasuke, without any chakra felt like a defenseless goat in the lair of a hungry bear. Gently he untied Sakura's headband and fixed it over his own forehead, replacing her headband with a strip of fabric Sasuke had cut off his sleeve. Weakly he ran his fingers over the familiar leaf symbol engraved in the hitai-ate. The warm forehead protector calmed his jumpy nerves somewhat. _Shouldn't get too comfortable…_

There came a crack nearby and the renegade ninja went tense. Sakura groaned in her sleep and Sasuke only barely managed to cover her mouth as she said something in her sleep.

"Did you hear something?"

Sasuke shuddered flattening himself as close to the tree as possible. It was Kabuto.

"Yes, yes I did," replied Orochimaru lifting his nose to the air. "I can smell him; his scent is strong here,"

Sasuke was frozen in terror, one hand over Sakura's mouth, the other around her waist, ready to make the run for it he knew he didn't have the strength to make. The crunching of dead leaves came closer and Sasuke winced, they would be discovered. Kabuto bent over to pull something out of the leaves.

"Well here's why it smells like him," he said holding up the belt and pants.

"If his pants are there…" murmured Orochimaru. "Then our dear Sasuke is running around somewhere…without any pants…" the old man chuckled. (Yes chuckled) Sasuke shuddered and Kabuto shrugged.

"I guess,"

"He couldn't have gotten far," said Orochimaru. "The pants are still warm… search the area and find his tracks," ordered the old snake man still hanging onto the bloodied pair of pants. Kabuto saluted and turned and would have stumbled upon the two of them if Sasuke hadn't dragged up enough chakra to pull off a simple camouflaging jutsu. Kabuto walked happily whistling to himself, dancing back and forth to the music only he could hear. He grinned like an idiot, hardly looking at all for signs of the Uchiha. If they never found Sasuke that was fine with him, that meant Orochimaru's attention all to himself. He stepped on the Uchiha's ankle and it took all of Sasuke's will power not to cry out. The jutsu was dropped with his concentration, but the happy Kabuto didn't look back and see Sasuke wincing.

Before long the two villains had moved off and Sasuke pulled his hand off of Sakura's mouth and dots swayed before his eyes. Sakura's head had lulled to the side, now resting on Sasuke's shoulder. The Uchiha tucked his knees up closer to his body and rubbed his sore ankle and contemplated how the hell he had gotten into this position as the sky opened up and sent down the rain.

He felt surprisingly worse as morning dawned. He had a fearsome headache and an empty stomach. He lifted up Sakura, finding that at least a little strength had returned but now the chakra burns stung badly as he moved off. It was mid day when Sakura's green eyes suddenly snapped open and she began to struggle.

"Hey!" she snapped angrily. "Where are you taking me? Put me down!" she demanded but Sasuke ignored her. "I've died," she answered herself. "And you're some part of a hellish afterlife and you're taking me to the clutches of your oh so great Orochimaru," she spat. She elbowed him heavily in the rib cage. "PUT ME DOWN!"

"You're not dead," answered Sasuke at last, his voice rough and scratchy as he realized how thirsty he was too.

"You're still taking me to Orochimaru though," she put in for him. "I don't want to see old slither lips, you jabbed me with your Chidori, isn't that good enough for you??" she demanded struggling angrily digging her elbow sharply into his ribs. The Uchiha's face crumpled in a grimace and he coughed feebly. She dug her elbow into his ribs harder. "PUT ME DOWN!"

"That hurts," he choked.

"You stole my headband too!" she accused him. Sasuke had almost had enough of her backtalk.

"Put me down!" she cried.

"I won't," he answered. "You're hurt, I'm not going to make you walk," he said.

"You won't make me do anything, I want to walk, now PUT ME…"

"No."

Sakura pouted for several seconds before pulling back her elbow and then launching a powerful hit into his ribs. This time Sasuke stopped, gasping for breath.

"Put me…"

"Shut up," he gasped. "Just shut up, I'm doing you a favor, live with it," he choked he shifted her in his stinging arms and moved onward. She crossed her arms and glared heatedly at him, waiting for the onyx eyed boy to crack. He didn't appear to care. When evening came he finally let her down. Sakura tried to stand, but a shuddering cough sent her to her knees clutching her stomach, eyes wide with pain. The Uchiha sank to the ground. Darkness covered them. Finally Sakura spoke.

"Why did you hit me with that blasted Chidori?" she demanded. "I was trying to help you."

"You think I meant to hit you?" returned Sasuke's incredulous voice in the dark. Sakura managed to lean forward and built up a pile of sticks and lit a fire. The sudden light illuminated the Sasuke's face. It was the first time she had looked him straight on, and the pained expression on his face destroyed all thoughts she had had.

"What happened to you?" she asked meekly. Sasuke shrugged.

"It got complicated," he answered. Sakura rubbed her sore stomach and realized for the first time, there were bandages around her waist. Quietly she felt her stomach again and realized it wasn't as painful as it had been. _But Sasuke doesn't know healing ninjutsu, it couldn't have been him… unless…the Sharingan…_

"You…" she started. "Why?" she asked again.

"Making up for the last time we were alone," answered the Uchiha.

"Huh?" asked Sakura. His cheeks weren't turning red but he looked embarrassed.

"I knocked you out, and this time I saved you," he said. Sakura looked away. She had forgotten that, which was surprising, it was something she had been trying to forget for three years. She looked at him. Maybe it was the headband that had taken her off guard, it made him look more heroic and she liked it that way.

"You look like a hobo," she said at last standing up and grimacing.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, a very ugly hobo," she said. "Your shirt and shorts don't match, I'll take first watch, you sleep or those burns will never heal," she warned. Sasuke didn't need to be told twice, he was out like a light in two minutes flat. Sakura kicked dirt onto the fire and leaned against a tree tuning her senses into the night and wondering why Sasuke had saved her life.

A heavenly scent filled the morning air as Sasuke opened his eyes to see Sakura's bare feet. He sat up and saw the warm juicy fish cooking over the small fire. Sakura was crouched on the other side of the fire where she appeared to be mashing some herbs together. The Uchiha's mouth was watering, his stomach growled anxiously as he was forced to wait for them to cook.

"Here," Sakura said at last, but instead of giving him a fish, she scooted closer to him and rubbed some of the herbs salve she was making onto one of the chakra burns. It stung intensely for several seconds before a cool emptiness covered up the sting. Sasuke watched as she rubbed it onto some of the worst burns and the deeper cuts from the sound nins' kunai.

"What was that for?" asked the Uchiha when she had finished.

"You're paid back now, for healing me which gave you the burns and carrying me you got hungry, so there's fish and salve and we're even," she said handing him the stick with the biggest fish.

"I don't want to have a relationship with you that's based on our debts, what we owe each other," he said, inspecting the fish for poison he might suspect Sakura had thrown on it. Sakura took a bite out of her fish.

"Well that's only relationship you're gonna have with me, because jabbing someone with a Chidori is hard to make up for, unless you can come up with a better way this relationship is what you're stuck with," she said over the mouthful of fish. Sasuke took a bite out of his fish and thought about it for a while. At last there came a dull thunderclap overhead and Sakura threw her fish bones into the fire and kicked dirt onto it. She stood up and stretched, before tenderly rubbing her stomach and slipping on her shoes. Sasuke threw his bones into the dirt pile and staggered up. A chorus of stinging in all the wounds Sakura had not tended, greeted him, and he wavered a moment leaning heavily against a tree.

"We'd better get going," said Sakura as Sasuke regained his balance. They headed off into the grey day.

Later as it was raining as they were at last nearing the village.

"What ever happened to that rice hat of yours?" asked Sakura. "It'd be nice right now,"

"I don't know," answered Sasuke, secretly suspecting Orochimaru had it.

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"NOOoo body knoooows the trouble I seen…" wailed Kabuto on his harmonica, wearing Sasuke's rice hat, which Orochimaru then snatched off his head.

"And a certain someone doesn't know how to borrrrow," he accused in song form.

"That's no one knows my sorrow," said Orochimaru sniffling. He had been so close to getting the Sharingan and Sasuke's body, and now he had nothing but Kabuto, a pair of torn pants, and a stupid rice hat.

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It was raining hard as the two came in through Konoha's gates, and it had become a downpour when they reached the Hokage Tower. They stopped outside and Sasuke untied Sakura's headband from around his forehead and offered it to her. She pushed it back into her hands with a wide smile.

"Keep it," she said. "I was going to get a new one soon anyways."

"Do I look alright? Not like one of Orochimaru's henchmen?" asked Sasuke tying back on the headband.

"You look like a hobo," said Sakura simply as she pushed open the door and lead him into the tower. They passed the reception desks without stopping and up the stairs to the Hokage's office and without even knocking Sakura came in. Tsunade looked up from her papers and stood up to greet Sakura.

"It's good to see you back!" she greeted her apprentice. "Who's the hobo?" she then asked referring to Sasuke. "Don't you remember what I told you, Sakura, the last time you brought a hobo home?" She came over to Sasuke patting him on the back. "I'm just kidding! You don't look in such great shape, how bout a glass of sake to perk you up?" she asked the fifteen year old who almost got a chance to decline before she thrust a glass of sake into his hand.

"Drink up! Drink up!" cheered the Hokage who had obviously herself probably had one too many glasses. He had almost gotten the glass to his lips when she snatched it back out of his hands glaring at him.

"I recognize you…Uchiha Sasuke," she said draining the glass in one swallow. "Sakura, why'd you bring this traitor up to my office huh? And back into our village? What'd he promise you? A kiss? A date? Or…"

"No," said Sakura shooting an annoyed glare at the Godaime who sat down in her seat and put her feet up on her desk.

"Then do explain please, what would possess you to bring one of Orochimaru's top men into our village,"

"He saved my life," said Sakura sinking into one of the plush chairs, leaving Sasuke the only one still standing. Sakura caught his wrist and dragged him down into the other chair. Tsunade looked from one to the other, before gesturing for Sakura to speak with her alone for a moment. The two walked out into the Hokage's private office, where a half drained bottle of sake sat off to the side.

"What makes you think he's changed?" asked the Godaime fixing her piercing gaze on Sakura. The Haruno looked away and shifted her weight from one foot to another.

"He saved my life. Last time I saw him, he knocked me out and this time he practically killed himself to save me," she answered quietly. The Godaime stared at Sakura for a moment thinking about it.

Sasuke walked to the window of the Hokage's office and pressed his hands to the window. Out stretching before him was the village he had grown up in, now wet beneath the pouring rain. For a moment he wondered if the Hokage would let him go free, wondered if he'd get to go back to his house or if the Godaime would decide just to kill him and get it over with. The door opened and the Uchiha turned to see the two med nin return to the room. Tsunade looked reluctant and Sakura had a look of relief on her face. The three sat back down. The Hokage pulled out a paper, writing up the Uchiha's re-registration as a Konoha nin. She handed him the paper to sign and then crossed her arms.

"Don't think you're off the hook though," she said fiercely as Sasuke handed back the paper. "No missions out of the village for six months," she said. "Sakura will keep an eye on you, at any suspicion we will not hesitate to send in the ANBU to investigate, you understand?" she asked. The no longer defected Uchiha nodded solemnly. Tsunade slid a hitai-ate across her desk to him. "We…uh sorta lost your old one," she said. Sasuke looked to Sakura, she was holding out a hand. He passed her the new headband and she fastened it behind her pink bangs.

"Arigato, Tsunade-sama," said Sasuke bowing as he stood up and Sakura joined him. The Hokage watched with some amusement as the Haruno and Uchiha left her office, so close they could almost have been holding hands.

"I've got an idea," spoke up Sasuke as they descended the steps of the tower.

"What is it?" asked Sakura.

"How bout we call it even, I saved your butt and you saved mine, right?"

"Yeah, but how does that change our relationship?" asked Sakura giving a confused look at the Uchiha who shrugged.

"Friends…" he said after a moment. It took a lot of effort for him to say that word. "We can be friends?" he asked. Sakura shook her head at how long it had taken him to say that.

"Yeah, friends then," she said as she pushed open the doors and they stepped out into the pouring rain and headed down the road.

Once out in the rain Sasuke couldn't help but smile. Sakura linked elbows with him, as they went.

"Now Mister Hobo," said Sakura looking up into Sasuke's gleaming onyx eyes. "We need to get you some new clothes, and a new one of those sexy rice hats."

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**Right. **

**I don't know why I noticed it but they're all a bunch of thieves.**

**Kabuto stole Sasuke's sexy rice hat. Orochimaru stole Sasuke's pants. Sasuke stole Sakura's forehead protector and Sakura stole... well she didn't steal anything but she called Sasuke a hobo so that has to count for something.**

**Please Review :) **

**-Hammy Uchiha**


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